Railroad-track brace.



W 1). KELLY. RAILROAD TRACK BRAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APB.,28, 1908.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

'55 arranged along parallel lines.

WILLIAM D. KELLY, OF JEFFERSON, TEXAS.

RAILROAD-TRACK BRACE.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Application filed April 28, 1908. Serial No. 429,745.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. KELLY, a citizen of the United States,residing at 'Jeffei'son, in the county of Marion and State 'bf Texas,have invented a new and useful gRailroad-Tra'ck Brace, of which thefollowing is a'specification.

' This invention relates to rail braces and supports for use inconnection with railway r0 ties and rails.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich is designed to'extend under and engage a rail at any desired pointbetween the ties thereunder, said 1S1brace being so constructed as to bereadily fastened to one of the adjoining ties at a 'point between therails by means of spikes 1- similar devices, the brace when thuspositioned constituting'eflicient means for preventing lateraldisplacement of the rail and for holding the rail against tilting. I

Another object is to provide a simple form of brace which also operatessufficiently to support the rail should the same break from TlSxanycause, thus reducing. the danger of derailment;

' Another object is to provide braces which serve to hold the rails atthe desired angles relative to the ties to prevent the ties from $0creepin longitudinally of the rails as often occurs rom various causes.With these and other objects in view th invention consists of certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts \5 which willbe hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims,

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of theinvention.

In said drawings: Figure l is a plan view of a brace embodying thepresent improvements, the same being shown in position upon a tie andrail. Fig. 2 is a section on line A-B, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is adiagrammatical view showing the relative arrangements of the rails,braces, and ties in the construction of a track.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1- designates astrip formed of a metal capable of resisting-severe strains and saidstrip is provided at one end with ahead 2 on which are formed twooppositely disposed pairs of rigid jaws 3 and 4, the jaws of each pairbeing spaced apart and the inner or adjoining ends of the jaws being Thelower portion of each jaw constitutes the working face thereof and isundercut as indicated at 5 and the undercut portions of each two I Ithereto two diagonally opposed jaws 3 and 4 y will bind upon oppositebase flanges of the rail as shown in Fi 1. Ears 7 extend in oppositedirections fiom the head 2 and between the ends of the jaws 3 and 4 andeach of these cars is designed to receive a set screw 8 which, after thejaws have been clamped upon the rail, are screwed upwardly against thebase of the rail so as to further assist i clamping the brace thereon;

That end of the strip 1 which is farthest removed from head 2 has aseries of ears 9 extending from its longitudinal edges, each car beingprovided with an opening 10 for the reception ofa spike 11 or othersecuring device. One or more openings 12 may also be provided within theend portion of the strip '1 and between the ears 9. Strip 1 is curvedupwardly at an intermediate point as shown at 13 so that the lowersurface of the apertured end thereof is disposed in the same plane withthat surface of the head on which rail 6 rests. In order that the stripmay be reinforced at the curve 13 a longtudinal web 14 is formed uponits lower surface as shown particularly in Fi 2.

Then it is desired to brace a rail by means of the device hereindescribed strip 1 is inserted under the Ind and placed. at right anglesthereto and by raising said strip the jaws 3 and at will assumepositions .at oppo site sides of the rail. The strip 1 is thenswunghorizontally onto one of the adjoining ties 15 until two diagonallyopposed jaws 3 and 4 bind upon opposite base flanges of the rails,whereupon a desired number of spikes or other fastcnin devices 11 aredriven through certain 0% the openings 10 located above the tie 15, thussecurely fastening the brace strip to the tie. The set screws 8 are thenscrewed. upwardly against the bottom of the rail.

As shown in Fig. 3 two braces are preferably attached to each tie, saidbraces extending along diagonal lines in opposite directions andengaging the. respective rails of r the track. The rails andties arethus se-- curely held together at predetermined angles and it obviouslybecomes impossible for the rails t'o 5 read or tilt or for the'ties' tocreep longitudinally of the rails. Moreover, should either rail becomebrolfen at a point between two of the ties the brace engaging the railwill serve to support it and thus reduce to the minimum thedanger ofderailnient. It will be noted that it is not necessary to produce rightsand lefts as the brace can be used upon eitherrail of the track.vMoreover, it can be applied to rails of a track already laid and willtherefore be found especially desirable in strengthening tracks alreadyin use particularly at points where they are subjected to severestrains.

. Importance is attached to the fact that when braces such as hereindescribed are used ballast'can be partly or entirely dispensed with,especially on bridges. This is particularly desirable on bridges andsimilar structures.

-What is claimed is: 1. As a new article of manufacture means attachableto a tie for holding a rail in 1 fixed relation thereto, said meanscomprising an elongated strip, and. opposed pairs of spaced railengaging jaws located at one end of the strip;

' 2. its an article of manufacture means attachable to a tie for holdinga rail in fixed'relation to said tie, said means comprising an elongatedstrip and opposed pairs of rail engaging jaws integral therewith, thetwo pairs of jaws being spaced apart a distance greater than the widthof I a rail base.

3. As an article of manufacture a rail brace comprising an elongatedstrip and oppositely disposed pairs of jaws integral with the strip, thetwo pairs of jaws being spaced apart a distance greater than the widthof a rail base and having undercut gripping faces.

4. As an article of manufacture a rail brace comprising an elongatedstrip and oppositely disposed pairs of jaws upon the strip, the twopairs of aws being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of arail base, each jaw having. an undercut gripping face.

5. As an article of manufacture a rail brace comprising an elongatedstrip and oppositely disposed pairs of jaws integral with the strip, thetwo pairs of jaws being spaced apart; a distance greater than the widthof a iaih base and having diagonally undercut grippin faces.

6. As an article of manufacture a rail each strip of. the rail thereon.

brace comprising an elongated strip having" an opening therein for thereception of se-' curing means, and oppositely disposed pair's i of ra1lengaging jaws upon the strip, the two pairs "of-jawsbeing spaced aparta. distance greater than the width of a rail Ease,- said jaws havingundercut gripping aces.

7. As an article of manufacture a rail brace comprising an elongatedstrip having an apertured end for the reception of see curing means, andoppositely disposed pairs of jaws upon the strip and spaced apa'rt abrace comprising an elongated strip, oppositely disposed rail engagingjaws thereon spaced apart a distance greater than the width of a railbase, said jaws having undercut gripping faces, laterally extending earsinterposed between and extending beyond the jaws, and. means adj ustablymounted within each ear for engaging a rail inserted between the jaws.

10. The combination with ties and rails secured thereon; of diagonallydisposed braces secured upon the ties and'extending under the rails,each brace having spaced jayis engaging opposite base flanges of a ram11. The combination with ties and rails thereon; of diagonally disposedbrace strips extending over and secured to the ties and projecting underthe rails, and spaced jaws upon the strips and having undercut gripingfaces frictionally engaging opposite case flanges of a rail.

.12. The combination with ties and rails secured thereon; of diagonallydisposed braces secured upon the tiesand extendin vunder the rails, eachbrace having space jaws en aglrgg opposite base flanges of a rail, an mans ad ustably connected to for engaging the bottom surfac In testimohythat I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my s1gnaturein the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM D. KELLY. Witnesses: S. W. MOSELEY,

E. G. BRUDEN.

